Transformers: The Movies that Made Camaro a Star

DETROIT--June 19, 2014: A Chevrolet Camaro that converts into the iconic
Bumblebee returns to the big screen in Michael Bay’s
“Transformers: Age of Extinction” in theaters June 27.

“In all the Transformers films, Chevrolet vehicles get to play the
heroes,” said Tim Mahoney, chief marketing officer, Global Chevrolet.
“These movies have helped us get our vehicles in front of a younger
audience around the world.”

This is the Camaro’s fourth appearance in a Transformers film. The
first three movies helped propel Camaro to sales leadership in its segment
for the past four years.

“Being a part of the Transformers franchise is an incredible way
to showcase the design work of which GM is capable,” said Ed Welburn,
vice president of GM Global Design. “The global series gets our
cutting-edge designs in front of more potential customers than we could
through traditional methods.”

Transformers (2007) In the first film of the series, Bumblebee goes
through arguably his biggest change. The car starts off as a hand-me-down
1977 second-generation Camaro. The car is anything but flashy, with rust
and primer spots, its famous yellow paint covered in patina.

Bumblebee eventually converts into a fifth-generation Camaro. However,
this was in July 2007, two years before the Camaro would go on sale, so
Chevrolet had to build a one-off running concept for the movie.

The vehicle used body panels made from the same molds that were used for
the 2006 Camaro Concept, which was on the auto show circuit the year
before. The body was fit to a chassis of a Holden Monaro to make it capable
of performing in the film.

Its starring role in Transformers helped cement the fifth-generation
Camaro as one of the coolest cars to come on the market in the following
years.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) and Transformers: Dark of the
Moon (2011) With Revenge of the Fallen coming out only a few months after
the latest Camaro went on sale, the movie depicted a modified production
version of the Camaro. The yellow Camaro sported the signature black rally
stripes on the hood and trunk deck lid, a mailslot hood, and a custom front
bumper.

For Dark of the Moon, Bumblebee was upgraded to the SS model with a
subtle update to its color, sporting a more amber hue than the previous
model’s pure yellow. The vehicle sported darker wheels and a new
paint scheme that included wider rally stripes and black side mirrors.

Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) For the latest installment,
Michael Bay asked the design team at GM to redesign Bumblebee to give him
an updated look. With a specific focus on making him look more aggressive
and muscular, the job was well suited to the North Hollywood Design
Center.

The Center is just down the street from Paramount Pictures and as
GM’s advanced design center, pens some of the most forward-looking
designs to wear a bowtie badge.

The team designed a vehicle specifically for the movie with a new fascia
and bulked up sides to create a leaner, meaner Bumblebee, with design cues
that could put it years into the future.

But one Transformer can’t fight on his own, which is why the team
was also tasked with designing an Allspark Green Tint Corvette Stingray to
play Crosshairs and a Chevrolet Sonic rally car. Those vehicles will be
joined by the Trax, which recently went on sale in China, and is set to go
on sale in the U.S. early next year.

The movie makes extensive use of GM facilities as settings for the film.
Scenes were filmed on Milford, Mich. Proving Ground, at the GM Design
Center in Warren, Mich., including Welburn’s office and the Lansing,
Mich., Delta Township Assembly Plant.

For example, at the Warren Technical Center, the production brought 200
people and 50 semi-trailers and filmed with minimal disruption to the work
going on during the day.